


Meta - Darcy is Awesome

by Caiti (Caitriona_3)



Series: Caitriona Opines on Fandom [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor - Fandom
Genre: Awesome Darcy Lewis, BAMF Darcy Lewis, Gen, Meta, Yes I am a Darcy fanatic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-11
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2018-01-15 08:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1297402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitriona_3/pseuds/Caiti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you ever wanted to know why I am so Darcy-centric, here's your answer!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meta - Darcy is Awesome

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the small rant included near the beginning...

Why Darcy Lewis? Of all the characters in the entire fandom, why do I have such an interest in Darcy?

Darcy is almost a clean slate. Her background is practically open for the creating. Unlike most of the other characters – Phil Coulson being another prime exception – she has no decades long comic history to delve into for inspiration…or canon nitpickers who want to be stuffy. What little we do know can be spun into various directions for any number of ideas or plot bunnies.

That would be enough for any writer – so much blank space to fill up. Like a blank page begging to be written on, that great unknown calls us.

(This does leave many Darcy-centric authors open to various forms of criticisms however, including the criticism I hate the most…the dreaded “Mary Sue”. May I just say…”Ick.” If you are ever tempted to give someone a criticism that includes the words “Mary Sue” (or if you ever have), please go read the following articles: [Stuff Your Mary Sue](http://thezoe-trope.blogspot.com/2011/08/you-can-stuff-your-mary-sue-where-sun.html) and [What would Mary Sue do](http://thezoe-trope.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-would-mary-sue-do.html) and [Everybody Hates Girls](http://thezoe-trope.blogspot.com/2013/08/real-girls-fake-girls-everbody-hates.html). If you have an honest, constructive critique, please offer that, but the critique – “Sigh. Mary Sue.” – is worthless. This is a review I received, and ignored – though tempted to reply with “Shrug. Don’t read.”.)

Rant over – moving on.

I love the little tidbits we do receive about Darcy from official sources. From her first moment as a bored chauffer for scientist Jane Foster to the end where she’s actively helping Jane try and reconnect with him (while asking about her Taser), she’s pushing buttons on multiple levels. 

First we see her as the bored intern. She could really care less about the science – she just wants the credits for school. This was probably the easiest and best way to get those necessary jewels without having to do a lot of lab work and actual studying. Some folks might use this to paint her as a do-nothing college student skating by, but other factors will show differently. It’s just that her interests do not run to science, and she’s fitting in the necessity without being thrilled about it.

I love Jane’s reaction to Darcy asking about music…it has such a flat, exasperated “big sister” sound. Obviously this is not the first time Darcy’s tried to ask this and Jane seems to want to shake her for acting so childish in front of their guest. To me it says something about their relationship – there is a comfort level there as well as some respect. Darcy doesn’t just flip on music without asking and Jane doesn’t treat her like an idiot.

Within the first few minutes of the movie we start to see more depth to Darcy. She is the first one to spot the light of the Bifrost (all unaware of what it meant) and immediately brings it to Jane’s attention. She doesn’t second guess herself, doesn’t worry about interrupting them – she knows this is important to Jane so she announces it. Also, she doesn’t say “Dr. Foster” – she says “Jane”. To me this is another proof of a level of comfort between them. (It also highlights Jane’s lack of ego, but this is about Darcy, so moving on.) Darcy also follows orders while they are sensible. She starts driving towards the light and weird frickin’ tornado when Jane yells go. It is only when things are obviously moving into serious danger that she starts to pull away. There is some decent self-preservation there. It’s not that she’s a coward – obviously she started driving towards the strange phenomena and I’ll have more on this later – but she also isn’t going to be stupid about it.

After they run into Thor, Darcy is keeping an eye on the drunken frat guy while Jane immediately loses herself in the science of the pattern. Here we see Darcy focused on the immediate potential threat while Jane is blind to any danger. Personally I feel Darcy is the more practical of the twosome who probably keeps food in the kitchen and the day-to-day stuff in order. She may even be learning some science as she tries to organize Jane’s stuff. (Jane seems the Science! type to me – oriented on pure science for the sake of science…no getting waylaid by such menial stuff as spreadsheets, expired milk, or laundry.)

Darcy isn’t shy about throwing out commentary or speaking her mind either. Her comments on the hitting of Thor being Jane’s fault, knowing CPR, and Thor being hammered are a great addition to the script. Not only do they add some levity, but they make Darcy the Earth-side humorous sidekick (with the Warriors Three holding that position on Asgard – Sif is the trusted lieutenant). The Taser is a more physical side of ‘speaking her mind’ to me. Most of the college girls I know don’t carry Tasers…pepper spray, sure, but not Tasers. For Darcy to carry one, to me anyway, hints at a darker side of her past. Something happened (or almost happened) to her to give her a reason to go armed. When Thor (drunken frat guy) starts getting aggressive, she doesn’t shy from using it. Please note - she doesn’t just pull it and shoot him! She pulls it, he sees it and scoffs, he moves forward, and then she shoots him. Between his comments, size, and forward movement, it only makes sense that she would get freaked out. Also note – she pulls the Taser when he starts getting aggressive (verbally) with Jane and Erik. He isn’t even looking in her direction, so her first reaction was in defense of the others – probably Jane in particular as she would have just met Erik.

The scene at the hospital when Jane & Darcy are answering the questions from the nurse at the desk is one of my favorites between them. The shifting of blame followed by Darcy’s pride in being the one to take him down…to me this is such a “sisters” moment. Again, it paints a good picture of their relationship before Erik came on the scene and the whole excitement got started. 

Again we see Darcy’s quick observations when she spots the human-like shadow in the pictures of the event. She is not just posting these things blindly as some menial, get it done quick thing. She’s taking the time to look at them…she’s not ignoring the ‘impossible’, but adding things up fairly quickly. At the hospital, when Jane wants to go looking for Thor, Erik’s question is meant to gently dampen her enthusiasm, but Darcy just goes “Oookay,” and starts to reload her Taser. She is immediately ready to help Jane, but she wants to be prepared for another round with the aggressive Thor. Her commentary on Thor being ‘cut’, the scene at the diner, and the talk on the roof after Phil and SHIELD steal Jane’s stuff…all of these continue to fluff out her place as the humorous, slightly irreverent sidekick. (Again we see an exasperated big sister Jane here when she huffs about Darcy and her iPod.)

Another important scene is when Darcy backs Jane up in a discussion with Erik about Thor’s story. Erik is completely skeptical, but Darcy, whatever her full opinion, is willing to see it from Jane’s side. As Darcy points out – a more primitive society could have seen aliens from another planet as gods/goddesses of Earth. Unlike Erik and Jane, Darcy is not stuck in ‘pure science’ – she sees things from a different point of view and can pull out other explanations that totally breeze by the scientists. Darcy is not an idiot either. She translated Jane’s opinion into straight-forward English, as well as showing an understanding of cultural differences and evolution between then (ancient culture) and now. (When Sif and the Warriors Three show up, Darcy is startled. I think she might have not totally been prepared for the full reality of Jane’s theory even though she backed it up. Also, when the bridge deposits the Destroyer and they see the twister from town, I love how Darcy is the one who does the asking – “Was someone else coming?”) 

When the Destroyer comes to town, we see Darcy’s courage once more. Despite being afraid – which comes across in her tone of voice – she stays to help evacuate the town. She doesn’t hop the first truck out even though she had the opportunity. More – she doesn’t take the last truck out either. We might expect her to…she’s not Jane. She doesn’t have the romantic entanglement to keep her. She stays. Loyalty to ‘sister’ Jane? Probably a good part of it. In spite of the danger and her fear, the people she has or is coming to relate to are all staying, so does she…even though she has no possible way to contribute to the fight. She might not have a romantic link to Thor, but she’s invested in him anyway. (I can see them eventually forming a sibling type bond to go with her sister-bond to Jane.) When Thor is healed and he flies off with Jane, Darcy is the one who drives Erik, Sif, and the Warriors to the site of the bridge landing. 

At the end, we see Darcy actively involved with the search for the bridge and Thor. There’s no boredom in her voice any longer. The tone has shifted to involved, determined, and direct. However, it is still Darcy – she’s asking about her Taser.

In The Dark World, we pick up even more details. This part is brief as I need to rewatch the movie, and some of it comes from the junior novelization (it’s official enough for me & yes, I actually read it). Darcy is still involved, and this is definitely past her internship. She more or less pulls Jane back into science after Jane seems to have given up - funny how energy anomalies will get her attention. (I love the nod here to the first film when she says she won’t get stabbed for science as opposed to credits this time.) Darcy unexpectedly speaks Farsi – which is definitely NOT the first choice of foreign language for the average American student at any level unless it is required for whatever career they are pursuing. So why does she know it? (Farsi is a Persian language primarily spoken in Iran and Afghanistan.) When Thor takes off with Jane, Darcy is the one who picks up the slack on Earth. She arranges to spring Erik Selvig from the psych ward (with Ian’s help). No matter what else is going on – the danger, the fear, and the insanity, she doesn’t run away from everything. She stays, helps, and yes, is still mixed up with everything at the very end when Thor returns to Jane (after the credits).

This is why I love focusing on Darcy. She’s has this wealth of characteristics without much detail and it gives you a lot of room to play.


End file.
